Crowdfunder for Marine community benefit venue

Article posted by Coliseum, February 14^th, 2025

Image: Marine FC and Diaz associates

The National League North team – the Marine Association Football Club (UK) – have announced the full plans for a new 8.32 acre stadium to be situated on Edge Lane, L23 1TR in conjunction and with support from Bellway Homes (house builder) and landowner Craig Sneddon.

‘marinefc.com’ stated that the planned stadium will boast a capacity of 5,000 and is one of the biggest community benefit projects in the North West.

The Marine Association Football Club is an English football club based in Crosby, Merseyside (UK). The club which was founded in 1894 is a member of both the Liverpool County and Lancashire County Football Associations and currently plays in the National League North, the sixth tier of the English football league system.

The 2,300-capacity Rossett Park is a football ground in Crosby, Merseyside (UK) that has been home to the Marine A.F.C. since 1904. It has been called the Marine Travel Arena for sponsorship reasons since 2015.

Bellway is a FTSE 250 house builder headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne (UK) which operates 22 trading divisions across England, Scotland and Wales. The company has grown from a family firm established more than 75 years ago into a respected national brand selling almost 11,200 homes a year.

‘marinefc.com’ further stated that the plans include a community hub, classrooms, gymnasium, 3G pitch (Third Generation synthetic surface), and a health and wellbeing hub including provision for a doctors, dentist and mental health nurse. A 20-bedroom accommodation will also be incorporated into the main stand. The existing site on the College Road will be retained as a community hub. Up to 100 jobs will be created from the project.

Since the club played the Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur F.C. in 2021 the club has progressed with two promotions and an increase in attendances from 350 to an average of 1,400. ‘Marine In The Community’, which launched in 2019, has grown exponentially and is now actively supporting the physical and mental wellbeing of thousands of people locally.

Informed James Leary, Marine A.F.C. head honcho, “It was our aim to find a site within L23 that could become our new long-term home. I am delighted that we have made it this far in our aim to safeguard the future of the Marine Football Club for the next 100+ years and create a project that will become a huge community asset. Our aim is to retain and improve our support from the Crosby/Waterloo/Thornton triangle whilst growing our supporter base from the surrounding areas of Formby, Maghull, Aintree, and Netherton. With that, the expansion of ‘Marine In The Community’ to these wider areas will also further improve the community impact.”

A soccer bus will be launched to support anybody living the opposite end of L23 or who use the railway to come to games departing from the Crosby & Blundellsands Station passing through College Road, Crosby Village and onto Edge Lane. This is the most ambitious project the club has embarked in its 130-year history and a crowdfunder has been set up to assist in the fundraising efforts.

Added Leary, “If anyone can donate to support the project it will be a massive boost. If we can’t raise the funds the project will not happen.”

Further announcements regarding the project progress will be made in due course.

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